Defense: No evidence to link Corey

Monday

Jan 27, 2014 at 9:42 PMJan 27, 2014 at 10:03 PM

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — While acknowledging that Julie Corey was found with the newborn baby girl cut from the womb of a slain Darlene Haynes, one of Ms. Corey's lawyers told a jury Monday that there was no forensic evidence linking her to Ms. Haynes' murder.

In his opening statement at Ms. Corey's Worcester Superior Court murder trial, lawyer Michael C. Wilcox went on to say that police failed to follow up on leads that could have led them to the killer or killers of the 23-year-old Ms. Haynes, whose body was discovered July 27, 2009, in a bedroom closet in her apartment at 94 Southgate St.

An autopsy showed the cause of death to be multiple blunt head trauma and skull fractures, asphyxiation by strangulation with an electrical cord that was wrapped around her neck and a 9-inch incision in her abdomen.

Prosecutors allege that Ms. Corey faked her own pregnancy, killed Ms. Haynes, cut open her abdomen and removed the baby girl, and then tried to pass the newborn off as her own. Ms. Corey, 39, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder.

Mr. Wilcox told the jury that the early police investigation into Ms. Haynes' death focused on the victim's relationship with Roberto "Tito" Rodriguez, her ex-boyfriend.

He said police learned that Mr. Rodriguez had allegedly assaulted Ms. Haynes several weeks before she was killed and that he had also been accused of threatening a girlfriend in the past.

The defense lawyer said the evidence would show that individuals known to Mr. Rodriguez were seen inside or entering Ms. Haynes' apartment after she was believed to have been killed, but before her body was discovered, and said police did not do enough to confirm their explanations.

"There is no question, ladies and gentlemen, that the police did not complete a thorough investigation," Mr. Wilcox told the jurors. While there was considerable blood at the crime scene, none was found on Ms. Corey, in her apartment or in her boyfriend's car, he said.

Mr. Wilcox did not explain how Ms. Corey ended up with Ms. Haynes' baby.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel J. Bennett said he intended to produce evidence to prove that Ms. Corey killed Ms. Haynes, stole her baby and represented to others that the child belonged to her.

On July 29, 2009, two days after Ms. Haynes' body was found by her landlord, Ms. Corey and her boyfriend, Alex Dion, showed up at a shelter in New Hampshire with an infant that was later determined to be the daughter of Ms. Haynes and Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Bennett said.

He told the jury that Ms. Corey was the last person to be seen with Ms. Haynes, having given her a ride to a package store on the night of July 23, 2009. Ms. Corey's fingerprint was found on a wine cooler purchased by Ms. Haynes that was recovered by police in the bedroom where Ms. Haynes was killed, according to the prosecutor.

"This case is about Julie Corey. She is the one who is sitting before you. She is the one you're going to have to be judging. ... That's the person who sits before the bar," Mr. Bennett said to the jurors.

The prosecutor said he was proceeding under three separate theories of murder: That the killing was premeditated, that it was carried out with extreme atrocity or cruelty, and that Ms. Haynes was killed during the commission of a felony, kidnapping, which is punishable by a sentence of less than life imprisonment. Either of the first two theories would support a first-degree murder conviction while the third, alone, would warrant a conviction for second-degree murder.

Among the first witnesses called to the stand by Mr. Bennett was Dr. Mindy Hull, the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy of Ms. Haynes. Dr. Hull described the injuries she saw to Ms. Haynes, including the multiple skull fractures and the vertical incision to her abdomen, and offered her opinion of the cause of death.

Under cross-examination by Louis P. Aloise, also part of the three-lawyer defense team, Dr. Hull testified that she could not say whether all of the head injuries were inflicted by the same object or by one or more people. She also said she could not determine the order of the blows or say whether any were inflicted after Ms. Haynes had already been rendered unconscious.

Because of the decomposition of the victim's body, Dr. Hull said it was impossible to say whether Ms. Haynes was alive when her abdomen was cut open and the fetus was removed.

Ms. Haynes' neighbor at the time, Erica Mercado, testified that she saw two men removing a fish tank from Ms. Haynes' apartment on the night of July 26, 2009. Ms. Haynes's body was discovered the next day by her landlord, William Thompson, who told the jury he was in the process of evicting her for non-payment of rent.

Ms. Mercado said one of the men who took the fish tank was Timothy Tripp and that she did not recognize the other. She testified that Mr. Tripp told her he had permission to take the tank, but that he appeared nervous and was red-faced.